30: VERY BEST OF

The Purple released this anniversary compilation for their thrity years of existence. In terms of tracklist, it is OK. As far as the versions are concerned, I am totally knocked out !

Most of the tracks are edited. The worse of course is reached with "Woman From Tokyo" and more than all with "Child In Time". This one is reduced to a mere four minutes fifteen seconds. It is faded out during Ritchie guitar solo !

What's this crap ?

Same treatment for "Never Before", "Burn", "You Keep On Moving" and "Perfect Strangers".

If you are new to the Purple, you have to avoid this one BY ALL MEANS. Get "The Deepest Purple" instead.

Two stars.

I guess that we'll soon (next year) get a compilation for their fortieth anniversary. I would like it to be as follows (only studio tracks, no editing).

Mark I : Hush, Help, Hey Joe, Shield, River Deep Mountain High, Lalena and April.

Mark II : Black Night (long version), Speed King, Child In Time, Flight Of The Rat, Hard Lovin' Man (finally), Fireball, Demon's Eye, The Mule, Fools, Highway Star, Pictures Of Home, Smoke On The Water, Lazy, When A Blind Man Cries, Woman from Tokyo and Super Trouper.

Mark III : Burn, Lay Down Stay Down, Mistreated, Stormbringer, Lady Double Dealer

Mark IV : Comin' Home, You Keep On Moving

Mark II B : Mean Streak, Perfect Strangers, A Gypsy's Kiss and The Spanish Archer

Mark V : none

Mark VI : Anya, A Twist In The Tale

Mark VII : Loosen My Strings, Hey Cisco

Mark VIII : Girls Like That, Rapture Of The deep

Guess what ? There are exactly forty numbers in my list (perfect for forty years, right?). All of this will fit on a three CD boxset probably called : "40: The Very Best Of". My rating of this unlikely compilation would be five stars.

When I started to recollect all Deep Purple albums in the format of CDs, because previously I only got in cassette format, I tried to purchase this compilation. For me, it's better I owned this compilation first before I could afford to buy each individual album in CD format. When I looked at the set list, it covered everything from start of their career until Abandon album. So I purchased the CD and hoped that I can enjoy Deep Purple musical journey from start to end (it was end of 1999, I think). When I got home, and played the CD, I was totally DISAPPOINTED knowing the fact that Child In Time was FORCED to end before it reaches the original completion. I was really angri because there was no duration on track listing at the CD. So I phoned the local CD store right away and asking them for CD return because I do NOT like any idea that cut the song from its original duration, NO WAY! I fought really hard with the CD store and finally I got the deal that I could return the CD to the store! Yeah man, as a rocker we have to fight to the bone if any music creation is being killed by the label!!! I hate the label who produced this compilation. That's the main reason I put this CD as POOR because it has killed the original music creation - even though I knew that was under permission of the band. But I do not care. This is just released for commercial benefit of the label and I do not want to give a piece or penny to the label who has done such unprofessional thing. So, I do not recommend you to buy this collection.

Oh yes, there are excellent songs of Deep Purple contained here. But what for?

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

A pretty decent array of songs make up this compilation of Deep Purple sounds. With the exception of the hatchet job on ' Child In Time' you have most of DP's favoured tunes. ' Black Night' and the psychedlic ' Speed King off In Rock,the excellent ' Strange Kinda Woman, Coverdale's voice on the Burn album, arguably one of the strongest vocalists ever. If you are looking for a wider variety of Deep Purple music without investing in studio albums I would still guard against this acquisition as it does not necessarily effectively cover their 'best of' library properly. Look around some more for The Platinum Ultimate Collection as this has a better mix and would perhaps suit better.

30 years in the making this compilation among over 50 other compilations of proto metal kings Deep Purple is actually one of the better ones. It jams in just over 77 minutes of solid gold Purple and in essence does not miss too much that makes this band great. All of the classics are here, namely Hush, Black Night, Speed King, Child In Time (edited), Strange Kind Of Woman, Fireball, Smoke On The Water, Highway Star, and Perfect Strangers. They don't include Knocking at Your Back Door though and why they had to edit Child In Time is beyond reason.

There are some odd choices here though that makes this quite a curio such as When A Blind Man Cries, Never Before, You Keep On Moving, Ted The Mechanic and Any Fule Kno That. These choices make this a lot different than other compilations previously. I like the fact they cram in 30 tracks to celebrate 30 years and of course you can't go wrong with this type of classic proto metal. An excellent compilation for those who can't be bothered collecting the albums, which are far superior. It is ideal for those who have not heard a lot from the band as it contains just about their best material.